Spiritual Glean1ng
(No. 2585)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, AUGUST 28, 1898.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK, ON AN AUTUMN EVENING, IN THE YEAR
1856.
"Let her gleam even among the sheaves, and reproach her not." Ruth
2:15.
OUR country cousins have been engaged recently in harvest occupations
and most of them understand what is meant by gleaning. Perhaps they are
not, all of them, so wise as to understand the heavenly art of
spiritual'gleaning. That is the subject which I have chosen for our
meditation on this occasion–my attention having been called to it
while I have been riding along through the country and, as I like to
improve the seasons of the year as they come and go, I shall give you a
few homely remarks with regard to spiritual gleaning. In the first
place, we shall observe that there is a great Husbandman. It was Boaz
in this case. It is our Heavenly Father who is the Husbandman in the
other case. Secondly, we shall notice a humble gleaner. It was Ruth in
this instance. It is every Believer who is represented by her–at least
we shall so consider the subject. And, in the third place, here is a
very gracious permission given–"Let her glean even among the sheaves,
and reproach her not."
I. In the first place, then, we will consider something concerning THE
GREAT HUSBANDMAN–GOD.
The God of the whole earth is a great Husbandman. In fact, all farming
operations are really dependent on Him. Man may plow the soil and he
may sow the seed, but God alone gives the increase. It is He that sends
the clouds and the sunshine, it is He that directs the winds and the
rain and so, by various processes of Nature, He brings forth the food
for man. All the farming, however, which God does, He does for the
benefit of others and never for Himself. He has no need of any of those
things which are so necessary for us. Remember how He spoke to Israel
of old?–"I will take no bullock out of your house, no he goats out of
your folds. For every beast of the forest is Mine and the cattle upon a
thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild
beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you:
for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof." All things are God's
and all He does in Creation, all the works of His Providence, are not
done for Himself, but for His creatures, out of the benevolence of His
loving heart.
And in spiritual matters, also, God is a great Husbandman. And there,
too, all His works are done for His people, that they may be fed and
satisfied, as with marrow and fatness. Permit me, then, to refer you to
the great Gospel fields which our Heavenly Father farms for the good of
His children. There is a great variety of them, but they are all on
good soil, for the words of Moses are true of the spiritual
Israel–"The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine;
also his heavens shall drop down dew." God, as the great spiritual
Husbandman, has many fields, and they are all fertile, and there is
always an abundant harvest to be reaped in them.
One field is called Doctrine field. Oh, what large sheaves of blessed
corn are to be found there! He who does but glean in it will find very
much spiritual nutriment. There is the great sheaf of Election, full,
indeed, of heavy ears of corn like Pharaoh saw in his first dream, "fat
and good." There is the great sheaf of Preservation, wherein it is
promised to us that the work that God has begun He will assuredly
complete. And if we have not faith enough to partake of either of these
sheaves, there is the most blessed sheaf of all–yes, it is many
sheaves in one–the sheaf of Redemption by the blood of Christ. Many a
poor soul who could not feed on electing love, has found satisfaction
in the blood of Jesus. He could sit down and rejoice that Redemption is
finished and that for every penitent soul there is provided a great
Atonement whereby He is reconciled to God.
I cannot stop to tell you of all the sheaves in the Doctrine field.
Some say there are only five. I believe the five great Doctrines of
Calvinism are, in some degree, a summary of the rest–they are
distinctive points wherein we differ from those who "have erred from
the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." But there
are many more Doctrines beside these five–and all are, alike, precious
and all are, alike, valuable to the true Believer's soul–for he can
feed upon them to his heart's content.
I wonder why it is that some of our ministers are so particular about
locking the gates of this Doctrine field? They do not like God's people
to get in. I believe it is because they are afraid Jeshurun would wax
fat and kick if he had too much food. At least that is what I must be
charitable enough to suppose! I fear that many are like the huge corn
monopolist– they buy the Doctrine of Election, but keep it to
themselves. They believe it is true, yet they never preach it! They say
that all the distinguishing Doctrines of Grace are true, but they never
proclaim them to others. There are Particular Baptists who are as sound
in doctrine as any of us, but, unfortunately, they never make any sound
about it–and though they are very sound when alone, they are very
unsound when they come into their pulpits, for they never preach
Doctrine there! I say, swing the gate wide open and come in, all you
children of God! I am sure there are no poisonous weeds in my Master's
field! If the Doctrine is a true one, it cannot hurt the child of God.
And so, as it is the Truth of God, you may feast upon it till your soul
is satisfied and no harm will come of it! The idea of reserve in
preaching–keeping back some Doctrines because they are not fit to be
preached–I will repeat what I have said before–it is a piece of most
abominable impudence on the part of man to say that anything which God
has revealed is unfit to be preached! If it is unfit to be preached, I
am sure the Almighty would never have revealed it to us. No, like the
old man described by Solomon, these preachers who do not proclaim good,
sound Doctrine, are "afraid of that which is high." It is a mark of
their senility that they fear to talk of these great things! God was
not afraid to write them and we, therefore, ought not to be afraid to
preach them! The Doctrine field is a glorious field, Beloved–go into
it often and glean–you may find, there, many a bushel of the finest
wheat every day!
Then, next, God has a field called Promise field. On that I need not
dwell, for many of you have often been there. But let us just take an
ear or two out of one of the sheaves and show them to you, that you may
be tempted to go into the field to glean more for yourselves. Here is
one–"The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My
kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of My
peace be removed, says the Lord that has mercy on you." There is a
heavy ear for you! Now for another–"When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow
you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither
shall the flame kindle upon you." Here is another–it has a short
stalk, but there is a great deal of corn in it–"My Grace is sufficient
for you." Here is another. "Fear you not, for I am with you." Here is
another one. "Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God,
believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were
not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if
I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you
unto Myself; that where I am, there you may also be." There is the
promise of Christ's glorious Second Coming and is not that a heavy ear
of wheat for the Lord's children to pick up? Yes, Beloved, we can say
of the Promise field what cannot be said of any farmer's field in
England, namely, that it is so rich a field it cannot be richer! And it
has so many ears of corn in it that you could not put in another one.
As the poet sings–
"How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith
in His excellent Word! What more can He say than to you He has said,
You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?" Go and glean in that field,
Christian! It is all your own, every ear of it! Pull great handfuls out
of the sheaves, if you like, for you are truly welcome to all you can
find!
Then there is Ordinance field. A great deal of corn grows in that
field. One part of it reminds us of the ordinance of Believers' Baptism
and, verily, God's children are greatly profited even by the sight of
the Baptism of others! It comforts and cheers them–and helps them to
renew their own dedication vow to the Lord Most High. But I must not
detain you long in this field, though it is, to many of us, a very
hallowed spot. Some of my friends never go into this field at all, it
is too damp a soil for them–and though the corn is very fine and very
high, they are afraid to go there. Let us leave that part of the field
and pass on to the place of Communion. Oh, it is sweet, Divinely sweet,
to sit at the Table of our Lord, to eat the bread and drink the wine!
What rich dainties are provided for us there! Has not Jesus often given
us, there, "the kisses of His mouth," and have we not, there, tasted
His love and proved it to be "better than wine"? Beloved, go into the
Ordinance field! Walk in the ordinances of the Lord, blameless, and do
not despise either of them. Keep His Commandments, for so will you find
a great reward and so will He fill your souls with marrow and fatness!
But God has one field on a hill which is as rich as any of the others!
And, indeed, you cannot really and truly go into any of the other
fields unless you go through this one, for the road to the other fields
lies through this one, which is called the field of fellowship and
communion with Christ Ah, that is the field to glean in! Some of you
have only run through it, you have not stopped in it. But he who ]mows
how to abide in it and to walk about it, never loses anything, but
gains much. Beloved, it is only in proportion as we hold fellowship
with Christ and commune with Him, that either ordinances, or Doctrines,
or promises can profit us. All those other things are dry and barren
unless we have entered into the love of Christ, unless we have realized
our union with Him, unless we have a sympathy with His heart, unless we
bear His likeness, unless we dwell continually with Him, feel His love
and are ravished with His delights. I am sorry to say that few
Christians think as much as they ought of this field–it is enough for
them to be sound in doctrine and tolerably correct in practice–they do
not think as much as they should about holding fellowship with Christ.
I am sure, if they did, there would not be half so many evil tempers as
there are, nor half so much pride and not a tenth so much sloth if our
Brothers and Sisters went into that field more often! Oh, it is a
blessed one! There is no field like that one! You may go into it and
revel in delights, for it is full of everything good that the heart can
wish, or the soul imagine, or the mind conceive! Blessed, blessed field
is that! And God leaves the gates of that field wide open for every
Believer!
Children of God, go into all these fields. Do not despise any of them,
but go and glean in them all, for there is the richest gleaning in all
creation!
II. Now, in the second place, we have to think and speak of A HUMBLE
GLEANER. Ruth was a gleaner and she may serve as an illustration of
what every Believer should be in the fields of God.
He should be a gleaner, and he may take a whole sheaf home if he likes.
He may be something more than a gleaner if he can be, but I use the
figure of a gleaner because I believe that is the most a Christian ever
is. Some may ask, "Why does not the Christian go and reap all the field
and take all the corn home with him?" So he may, if he can. If he likes
to take a whole sheaf on his back and go home with it, he may do so.
And if he will bring a great wagon and carry away all there is in the
field, he may have it all! But, generally, our faith is so small that
we can only glean–we take away but a little of the blessing which God
has prepared so abundantly. And though, sometimes faith does take and
enjoy much, yet, when we compare it with what there is to be enjoyed, a
gleaner is the true picture of faith–but more especially of little
faith. All it can do is to glean–it cannot cart the wheat home, or
carry a sheaf on its shoulders–it can only take it up, ear by ear.
Again, I may remark, that the gleaner, in her business, has to endure
much toil and fatigue. She rises early in the morning and trudges off
to a field. If that is shut, she trudges to another. And if that one is
closed, or the corn has all been gleaned, she goes to another. All day
long, though the sun is shining on her, except when she sits down under
a tree to rest and refresh herself a little, she still goes on stooping
and gathering up her ears of corn. And she returns not home till
nightfall, for she desires, if the field is good, to pick up all she
can in the day, and she would not like to go back unless her arms were
full of the rich corn she so much desires to find.
Beloved, so let it be with every Believer! Let him not be afraid of a
little weariness in his Master's service. If the gleaning is good, the
spiritual gleaner will not mind fatigue in gathering it. One says, "I
walk five miles every Sunday to Chapel." Another says, "I walk six or
seven miles." Very well, if it is the Gospel, it is worth not only
walking six or seven miles, but 60 or seventy, for it will pay you
well! The gleaner must look for some toil and trouble. He must not
expect that everything will come to him very easily. We must not think
that it is always the field next to our house that is to be gleaned–it
may be a field at the most distant end of the village! If so, let us go
trudging off to it, that we may get our hands and arms full.
But I remark, next, that the gleaner has to stoop for every ear she
gets. Why is it that proud people do not profit under the Word of God?
Why is it that your grand folk cannot get any good out of many Gospel
ministers? Why, because they want the ministers to pick up the corn for
them! And beside that, many of the ministers hold it so high above
their heads that they can scarcely see it. They say, "Here is something
wonderful," and they admire the cleverness of the man who holds it up!
Now, I like to scatter the corn on the ground as much as I can. I do
not mean to hold it up so high that you cannot reach it. One reason is
that I cannot–I have not the talent to hold it up where you cannot see
it–my ability will only allow me to just throw the corn on the ground,
so that the people can pick it up. And if it is thrown on the ground,
then all can get it. If we preach only to the rich, they can
understand, but the poor cannot. But when we preach to the poor, the
rich can understand it if they like. And if they do not like it, they
can go somewhere else. I believe that the real gleaner, the ones who
get any spiritual food, will have to stoop to pick it up–and I would
gladly stoop to know and understand the Gospel! It is worth while going
anywhere to hear the Gospel, but, nowadays, people must have fine
steeples to their places of worship, fine gowns for their ministers and
they must preach most eloquently. But that is not the way the Lord
ordained–He intended that there should be plain, simple, faithful
preaching. It is by the foolishness of such preaching that He will save
them that believe. Beloved Friends, remember that gleaners who are to
get anything must expect to stoop.
Note, in the next place, that what a gleaner gathers, she gets ear by
ear Sometimes, it is true, she gets a handful, but that is the
exception, not the rule. In the case of Ruth, handfuls were let fall on
purpose for her, but the usual way is to glean ear by ear. The gleaner
stoops and picks up, first one ear, and then another, and then
another–only one ear at a time. Now, Beloved, where there are handfuls
to be had at once, that is the place to go and glean! But if you cannot
get handfuls, go and get ear by ear. I have heard of certain people who
have been in the habit of hearing a favorite minister in London,
saying, when they go to the seaside," We cannot hear anybody after him.
We shall not go to that Chapel any more." So they stay at home all day
on Sunday, I suppose forgetting that passage, "not forsaking the
assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is." They
cannot get a handful and, therefore, they will not pick up an ear. So
the poor creatures are starved and they are glad enough to get back
home! They should have gone, if they could get but one ear–and he is a
sorry minister who cannot gave them that! And if they got only one ear,
it would be worth having. If it is only six words of God, if we think
of them, they will do us good. Let us be content, then, to glean ear by
ear. Let us take away a whole sheaf with us if we can, but if we cannot
do that, let us get the good corn an ear at a time.
"Oh," says a friend, "I cannot hear some ministers at all! They preach
such a mingle-mangle of the Truth of God and error." I know they do,
but it will be a strange thing if you cannot get an ear or two of
wheat, even from them! There is a great deal of straw–you are not
required to take that away–but it will be remarkable if you cannot
pick up an ear or two of good grain. You say, "The error that the man
preaches distresses my mind." No doubt it does, but the best way is to
leave the lies alone and pick out the sound Truth of God–and if there
is no sound Truth in the sermon, a good plan is to read it all
backwards–and then it will be sure to be sound. I heard a man of that
kind, once, and when he said a thing was so-and-so, I said to myself
that it was not. And when he said such-and-such a thing would happen, I
said it would not–and I then enjoyed the sermon! He said that the
people of God, through their sin, would perish. I had only to put a,
"not," into his sentence, and what a sweet and comforting message it
then was! That is the way, when you hear a bad sermon, to qualify what
the preacher says. Then, after all, you can make his discourse suggest
spiritual thoughts to you, and do you good! But you must be content,
wherever you go to hear the Word, to pick up the corn ear by ear.
Note, next, that what the gleaner picks up, she keeps in her hands. She
does not pick it up and then drop it down, as some do in their
spiritual gleaning. There is a good thought at the beginning of the
sermon, but you are all eager to hear another–and you let the first
go. Then, towards the end of the discourse, perhaps there is another
flash and, in trying to catch that, you have forgotten all the rest!
So, when the sermon is over, it is nearly all gone and you are about as
wise as a gleaner who sets out in the morning and picks up one ear,
then drop that and picks up another. She then drops that and pick up
another. She would find, at night, that she had got–what? –that she
had got nothing for all her trouble! It is just the same in hearing a
sermon–some people pick up the ears and drop them as fast as they pick
them up.
But one says, "I have kept nearly the whole of the sermon." I am glad
to hear it, my Friend, but just allow me to make a remark. Many a man,
when he has nearly the whole sermon, loses it on the way home. Very
much depends on our conduct on our way back from the House of God. I
have heard of a Christian man who was seen hurrying home, one Sunday,
with all his might. A friend asked him why he was in such haste. "Oh,"
he said, "two or three Sundays ago, our minister gave us a most blessed
discourse and I greatly enjoyed it. But as soon as I was outside the
Chapel, there were two deacons and one pulled one way, and the other
pulled the other way, till they tore the sermon all to pieces! And
though it was a most blessed discourse, I did not remember a word of it
when I got home–all the savor and unction had been taken out of it by
those deacons–so I thought I would hurry home tonight and pray over
the sermon without speaking to them at all." It is always the best way,
Beloved, to go straight home from your places of worship–if you begin
your chit-chat about this thing and the other, you lose all the savor
and unction of the discourse! Therefore I would advise you to go home
as quickly as you can after the service–you might possibly, then, get
more good than you usually do from the sermon and from the worship
altogether!
Then, again, the gleaner takes the wheat home and threshes it It is a
blessed thing to thresh a sermon when you have heard it. Many persons
thrash the preacher–but that is not half so good as threshing the
sermon! They begin finding this fault and the other with him, and they
think that is doing good–but it is not. Take the sermon, Beloved, when
you have listened to it, lay it down on the floor of meditation, and
beat it with the flail of prayer so you will get the corn out of it.
But the sermon is no good unless you thresh it. Why, that is as if a
gleaner should stow away her corn in the room, and the mice should find
it–in that case, it would be a nuisance to her rather than a benefit.
So, some people hear a sermon, and carry it home, and then allow their
sins to eat it all up and thus it becomes an injury to them, rather
than a blessing. But He who knows how to flail a sermon well, to put it
into the threshing machine and thresh it well, has learned a good art,
from which he shall profit much.
I have heard of an aged Scotchman, who, one Sunday morning, returned
from "kirk" rather earlier than usual, and his wife, surprised to see
him home so soon, said to him, "Donald, is the sermon all done?" '
'No," he answered, "it is all said, but it is not all done by a long
way." We ought to take the sermon home, to dowhat the preacher has
said–that is what I mean by threshing it. And some of you are content
if you carry the sermon home. You are willing enough, perhaps, to talk
a little about it, but there is no thorough threshing of it by
meditation and prayer.
And then, once more, the good woman, after threshing the corn, no doubt
afterwards winnowed it Ruth did this in the field, but you can scarcely
do so with the sermons you hear–some of the winnowing must be done at
home. Observe, too, that Ruth did not take the chaffhome. She left that
behind her in the field. It is an important thing to winnow every
sermon that you hear. My dear Friends, I would not wish you to be
spongy hearers who suck up everything that is poured into their ears. I
would have you all to be winnowers, to separate the precious from the
vile! With all ministers there is a certain quantity of chaff mixed
with the corn, but I have noticed in some hearers a sad predilection to
take all the chaff and leave the corn behind. One exclaims, when he
gets out of the building, or even before, "That was a curious story
that the preacher told–won't it make a good anecdote for me at the
next party I attend?" Another says, "Mr. Spurgeon used such-and-such an
expression." If you hear a man talk in that way, do you know what you
should say to him? You should say, "Stop, Friend! We all have our
faults and perhaps you have as many as anybody else–can you not tell
us something Mr. Spurgeon said that was good?" "Oh, I don't remember
that. That is all gone!" Just so, people are ready to remember what is
bad, but they soon forget anything that is good.
Let me advise you to winnow the sermon, to meditate upon it, to pray
over it, to separate the chaff from the wheat and to take care of that
which is good. That is the true art of heavenly gleaning–may the Lord
teach us it, that we may become "rich to all the intents of bliss,"
that we may be filled and satisfied with the favor and goodness of the
Lord!
III. Now, in the last place, here is A GRACIOUS PERMISSION GIVEN. "Let
her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not."
Ruth had no right to go among the sheaves to glean, but Boaz gave her a
right to go there by saying, "Let her do it." For her to be allowed to
go among the sheaves, in that part of the field where the wheat was not
already carted, was a special favor, but to go among the sheaves and to
have handfuls of corn dropped on purpose for her, was a further proof
of the kindness of Boaz.
Shall I tell you the reasons that moved the heart of Boaz to let Ruth
go and glean among the sheaves? One reason was, because he loved her.
He would have her go there because he had conceived a great affection
for her, which he afterwards displayed in due time. So the Lord lets
His people come and glean among the sheaves because He loves them. Did
you have a rich gleaning among the sheaves the other Sabbath? Did you
carry home your sack, filled like the sacks of Benjamin's brothers when
they went back from Egypt? Did you have an abundance of the good corn
of the land? Were you satisfied with favor and filled with the blessing
of the Lord? That was all owing to your Master's goodness! It was
because He loved you that He dealt so bountifully with you. Look, I
beseech you, on all your mercies as proofs of His love! Especially look
on all your spiritual blessings as being tokens of His Grace. It will
make your corn grind all the better and taste all the sweeter if you
think that it is a proof of love that your sweet seasons, your high
enjoyments, your blessed ravishments of spirit are so many proofs of
your Lord's affection to you. Boaz allowed Ruth to go and glean among
the sheaves because of his love to her, so, Beloved, it is God's Free
Grace that lets us go among His sheaves and lets us lay hold of
doctrinal blessings, promise blessings, or experience blessings. We
have no right to be there of our-selves–it is all the Lord's Free and
Sovereign Grace that lets us go there!
There was another reason why Boaz let Ruth glean among the
sheaves–because he was related to her. And that is why the Lord
sometimes gives us such sweet mercies and takes us into His banqueting
house, because He is related to us. He is our Brother, our Kinsman,
allied to us by ties of blood. Yes, more than that, He is the Husband
of His Church, and He may well let His wife go and glean among the
sheaves, for all she gets is not lost to Him–it is only putting it out
of one hand into the other since her interests and His are all one. So
He may well say, "Beloved, take all you please. I am none the poorer,
for you are Mine. You are My partner, you are My chosen one, you are My
bride, so, take it, take it all, for it is still in the family and
there is none the less, when you have taken all that you can."
What more shall I say to you, my beloved Brothers and Sisters? Go
glean, spiritually, as much as you can! Never lose an opportunity of
getting a blessing! Glean at the Mercy Seat. Glean in the House of God.
Glean in private meditation. Glean in reading pious books. Glean in
associating with gracious men and women. Glean everywhere–wherever you
go! And if you can pick up only an ear a day, you who are so much
engaged in business and so much penned up by cares, if you can only
spare five minutes, go glean a little–and if you cannot carry away a
sheaf, get an ear. Or if you cannot get an ear, make sure of at least
one grain. Take care to glean a little! If you cannot find much, get as
much as you can.
Just one other remark, and then I will close. O child of God, never be
afraid to glean! All there is in all your Lord's fields is yours. Never
think that your Master will be angry with you because you carry away so
much of the good corn of the Kingdom. The only thing He is likely to be
offended with you for is because you do not take enough! "There it is,"
He says, "take it, take it, and eat it. Eat abundantly. Drink, yes,
drink abundantly, O beloved!" If you find a sweet promise, suck all the
honey out of the comb. And if you get hold of some blessed sheaf, do
not be afraid to carry it away rejoicing. You have a right to it–let
not Satan cheat you out of it! Sharpen up the sickle of your faith and
go harvesting, for you may, if you will. And if you can, you may take a
whole sheaf and carry it away for spiritual food. But if you cannot
take a whole sheaf, the Lord teach you how to glean among the sheaves,
even as Ruth did in the fields of Boaz. And may He, in the greatness of
His Grace, let fall a few handfuls on purpose for you, for His dear
Son's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: DEUTERONOMY 8.
Verse 1. All the commandments which I command you this day shall you
observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess
the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers. Observe, dear Friends,
that the Lord demands of His people universal obedience to His
commands–"All the commandments which I command you this day shall you
observe to do." Christians, although they are not under the Law, are
under the sweet constraints of love, and that love incites them to
complete obedience–so that they desire to leave undone nothing which
the Lord commands. And this obedience is to be careful as well as
complete. "All the commandments which I command you this day shall you
observe to do." Not only do them, but do them with care. When the
commandment applies to a certain duty, obey it in full, both in the
letter and in the spirit, for there are numerous and weighty blessings
attached to obedience–not of merit, but of Grace. If we walk carefully
in the fear of God, we shall find that in keeping His commandments
there is great reward.
2. And you shall remember all the ways which the LORD your God led you
these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, and to prove you,
to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His
commandments, or not It is well to have a good memory and that is the
best memory which remembers what is best worth remembering. There are
many things which we would gladly forget, yet we find it hard to forget
them. They often rise up at most inappropriate times and we loathe
ourselves to think that we should ever remember them at all. But,
whatever we forget, we ought always to remember what God has done for
us. This should excite our gratitude, create deep humility and foster
our faith both for the present and the future. "You shall remember all
the ways which Jehovah your God led you these forty years in the
wilderness" If forty years of the Lord's leading should make some of us
bless His holy name, what ought you to do, my Brothers and Sisters,
who, perhaps, are getting near the four-score years? What praise and
gratitude should be rendered by you to Him who has led you all your
life long! Look what God intends to accomplish by our wilderness
experience. It is, first, to "humble" us. Has it had that effect? Then
it is to "prove" us. Ah, I am afraid it has had that result– and has
proved what poor wretched creatures we are! That has been proved in our
experience, again and again. It is also that it may be known what is in
our heart, whether we will keep God's commandments or not,
3. And He humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with
manna, which you knew not What a wonderful sequence there is in these
short sentences! "He humbled you, and suffered you to hunger." One
would think that the next sentence would be, "and allowed you to
starve." No, it is, "and fed you with manna." They had the better
appetite for the manna and were the more ready to see the hand of God
in sending the manna because of that humbling and hunger which God had
previously suffered them to endure! "Fed you with manna, which you knew
not." The very name by which they called it was, "Manna," or, "What is
this?" "for they knew not what it was." "And fed you with manna, which
you knew not."
3. Neither did your fathers know; that He might make you know that man
does not live by bread only, but by every Word that proceeds out of the
mouth of the LORD does man live. God can make us live on bread if it is
sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. He does make our souls to
live upon His Word. He could, if so it pleased Him, make our bodies
live by that Word without any outward sustenance whatever.
4. Your raiment waxed not old upon you, neither did your feet swell,
these forty years. What a wonderful experience the Israelites had in
the wilderness! They were always fed, though in a waste howling
wilderness, dry and barren. They always had water following them from
that stream which flowed out of the flinty rock, from which you might
sooner have expected to strike fire than to obtain water. And as for
their garments, they did not wear out! They had no shops to go to and
they were unable to make new clothes in the wilderness on account of
their frequent moving to and fro. Yet they were always clad and, though
they were a host of weary pilgrims, marching backwards and forwards for
forty years, yet their feet did not swell. Oh, what a mercy that was!
"He keeps the feet of His saints." Has it not been so with you, also,
dear Friends? You have said, "What shall I do if I live so long and if
I have to bear so many troubles, and make so many marches through the
very Valley of the Shadow of Death?" What will you do? Why, you will do
as you have done! Trust in God, and go on. You shall be fed and you
shall be upheld even unto the end.
5. You shall also consider in your heart. Note that we are not only to
remember God's dealings with us, but we are to consider them, to ponder
them, to weigh them. "Consider in your heart."
5. That, as a man chastens his son, so the LORDyour God chastensyou. Do
I speak to anyone who is just now under the rod? "Consider in your
heart," then, that God is dealing with you as a father deals with his
sons, "for what son is he whom the father chastens not?" How would you
like to be dealt with? Would you rather be without the rod? Then
remember that "if you are without chastisement, whereof all are
partakers, then are you bastards, and not sons." Do you wish to be
treated so? I am sure you do not! You wish to have the children's
portion, so you say, "Deal with me, Lord, as You are desirous to do
with those that fear Your name. We are willing to have the rod of the
Covenant for the sake of the Covenant to which it belongs!
6-8. Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORDyour God, to
walk in His ways, and to fear Him. For the LORD your God brings you
into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths
that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and
vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey.
This is also the experience of the child of God–in one sense, in
Heaven–but in another and perhaps a truer sense, even here below! "We
which have believed do enter into rest." By faith we take possession of
the promised land! And when a Christian gets out of the wilderness
experience of doubting and fearing–and comes into the Canaan
experience of a simple faith and a fully-assured trust–then he comes
"into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths
that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and
vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey,"
for God gives to His people not only all they need, but something more.
He gives them not only necessities, but also luxuries, delights and
joys.
9. A land wherein you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall not
lack anything in it When you live in communion with God and He brings
you into the full enjoyment of the Covenant blessings, then there is no
scarceness with you, there is no lack of anything!
9. A land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig
brass. Or, copper. Silver and gold they had none, but then the princes
of Sheba and Seba were to offer them gifts and bring them their gold
and their silver. But if they had nothing for show, they had plenty for
use, for iron is a great deal more useful metal than gold. And the
copper, which they hardened into brass, was of much more service to
them than silver would have been. God will furnish you, dear Brothers
and Sisters, with all the weapons you need for the Holy War. There may
be no gold and silver ornaments for your pride, but there shall be iron
instruments to help you in your conflict with your adversaries.
10. When you have eaten andare full, then you shall bless the LORDyour
God for the goodland which He hasgiven you. God permits His people to
eat and to be full. But, when they are so, they must take care that
they do not become proud–and that they do not begin to ascribe their
profiting to themselves.
11. Beware that you forget not the LORD your God, in not keeping His
commandments, and His judgments, and His statutes, which I command you
this day. Whenever we see the word, "Beware," in the Bible, we may be
sure that there is something to beware of. The point here to note is
that our times of prosperity are times of danger. I remember that Mr.
Whitefield once asked the prayers of the congregation, "for a young
gentleman in very dangerous circumstances," for he had just come into a
fortune of 5,000 pounds. Then is the time when prayer is needed even
more than in seasons of depression and loss!
12-16. Lest when you have eaten andare full, andhave built goodly
houses, and dwelt therein; and when your herds and your flocks
multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you
have is multiplied; then your heart is lifted up, andyou forget the
LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land ofEgypt, from
the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible
wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought,
where there was no water; who brought you forth water out of the rock
of flint; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers
knew not, that He might humble you, and that He might prove you, to do
you good at your latter end. Why do we get these passages repeated?
Surely it is because we have such slippery memories and the Lord has to
tell His children the same thing over and over again–"precept upon
precept: line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a
little" because we so soon forget.
17-20. Andyou say in your heart, My power and the might of my hands has
gotten me this wealth. But you shall remember the LORD your God: for it
is He that gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His
covenant which He swore unto your fathers, as it is this day. Andit
shall be, ifyou do at all forget the LORDyour God, and walk after other
gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day
that you shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroys
before your face, so shall you perish.' 'If you sin as they do, you
shall fare as they do."
20. Because you would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORDyour
God.